Hidden Blades are Merciless
by AbsoluteFallen
Summary: Victoria has been living her life hiding from the Templars. Now seventeen, she still doesn't know what they want with her, or why they've killed her family. As she tries to run away from her family's past to escape the danger, she comes closer to the reality of who she actually is - and when she meets Ezio Auditore, her entire world changes as she enters the realm of the Assassins.
1. Chapter 1

"Go to sleep, Victoria. We have nothing to worry about."

"But did you not hear him? We are in trouble, _signora_, they know where I am-"

"_Silenzio,_ Victoria. You know that man's mind is a thousand places."

"_Signora, per favore!" _I begged to Adriana consistently, the fear I was trying so hard not to admit to rising slowly in my veins. She gave me a stern look, and I knew that if I opened my mouth to protest once more, she'd slap me. I submitted to her demand and walked to my room. Once I got in and closed the door behind me, I bit my lip in anger and whispered to myself, _"puttana."_

I did not choose to be put in this cursed whore house, and like hell, I wanted to leave. But it was far too dangerous. The Templars were looking for me, as they had been since I was born in Venezia.

They murdered my parents there, and my older sister Viola abandoned me to seek shelter with her husband. I was about six years old when this all happened. So many times I'd ask my mother why she wouldn't let me go to school, or even have friends for that matter – it took me that long to realize. I remember the night like it was only yesterday, when my bare feet were cold and aching from being cramped up underneath my father's desk. From the crack below, I could see the feet of about three men, going in all directions. My mother screamed and begged for her life from her room.

"Where are they?" a man's voice thundered, and my mother pleaded, saying she swore she had no idea what they were speaking of. "Where are your children? Where is your husband?" the voice demanded. She still swore she didn't know, and all of a sudden, there was a thud from her room, and it was silent for a few seconds. Then my father ran in through the door. I moved to where I could see a bit more through the crack.

"Felicia? Victoria?" he called out. He knew something was terribly wrong. I heard it in his voice. The men ran out towards him, and two grabbed his arms as the other stood in front of him.

"You tell us where your children are, and we may spare them," the man said. My father spit in his face.

"I will die before I tell you. Give me my wife," my father said back, his voice even more terrifying than the man's. Yet the stranger only laughed as he wiped the spit from his cheek.

"Your wife? Cold in her bedroom. If you do not speak now, your daughters will suffer the same fate, _signore."_

The light went out in my father's eyes as he said, _"Bastardo," _and a knife was taken to his throat. My father collapsed on the floor and the men stormed out.

I ran over to him and put my hand on his face, which was still warm. His eyes slowly looked up to me lovingly. His hand reached for mine, and then it fell. His body began to get cold, and my legs were soaked in the pool of blood that surrounded is throat-

"Victoria! Are you alright?"

I snapped out of it and looked at Elenora, nodding. She is the maid of this house. Adriana must have sent her to check on me, to make sure I hadn't escaped or let the words of the homeless man drive me insane.

"Yes, I am alright. Just tired. Will you please excuse me?" I asked her, and she swiftly left the room.

I thought about the homeless man from this morning. He seemed to be limping, and he was so old that he was going bald. Yet the fear in his eyes seemed so real, I couldn't help but listen to what he was saying. Everyone else on the streets would give him dirty looks and tell him to leave, yet he begged for them to listen so sincerely. I sat on the bench near to where he was standing, and bowed my head as if I was in deep thought. Discreetly, I listened to what he was saying.

"Angelo Galati is coming with his army of men – they will raid our precious city of Siena!" he would say.

My heart dropped to my stomach and I raced home, and told Adriana about it. Throughout the day, she told me to forget it, yet I couldn't.

Here I am now, lying in my soft bed, listening carefully to the outside world. The moon's faint light entered through my window, and it soothed me a bit. Before I knew it, I was asleep.

"Let us go!" I roared at them, as they held me down, as well as Adriana and some of the other girls. The others must have fled.

The familiar face of a man came close to mine. Though he seemed older, with more wrinkles and a few grey hairs coming out through his beard, he was still recognizable. His breath smelled rotten and I coughed in his face.

_"Puttana,_ it is you," he said. "It's been a decade."

"I am no _puttana," _I growled, and spit in his face. He laughed as he wiped it off of his cheek.

"Just like your father," he said. "What a shame he is dead now."

I tried to escape the grasp of the man that was holding me. I kicked him right where it hurts and for a split second he let go, but two other men came over and held me back.

"What in the devil's name do you want from us?" asked Adriana, desperation in her voice.

"It's not what I want from you, it's what I want from her," he said, grabbing my hair and pulling it. I didn't dare flinch.

"Then take me, kill me, I do not care – just leave these women alone," I said. Elenora's cries grew louder. Adriana yelled, "No!" but the men twisted her wrists behind her to shut her up.

Angelo's menacing smile grew wider. "Perhaps you are not as much as a coward as your parents were." The anger roared like fire through my veins, but I awaited his decision with silence.

He gestured at the other men to let the women go. They all stood there, afraid that their actions would set them off again. Even Adriana stood silently, carefully watching me.

"Very well. We shall let these whores live. But you will come with us. Men, take her to the ship. Kill any guards that get in your way." And with that, they took me away, through the empty streets of Siena.

The walk there with the two men was silent. They bound my hands together with rope and put a sack over my head. I struggled to breathe but showed no retaliation. I wasn't going to die in the hands of these _stronzos._

Through the sack, I could see some of the city lanterns. We were almost at the city wall when one of the men took the sack off of my head. I looked at his twisted smile, confused, until he made me turn around. And as I did, I swear a part of me died then and there.

From the distance, a bright orange glow came from a building. The thick smoke was visible by the stars, and I knew that that _bastardo _Angelo had lied through his teeth. He had set the house on fire. God knows if the girls survived or not.

The sound of horses trotting became louder and louder until I saw two of them come out from the streets. One was white, and carried Angelo himself. Another carried one of his men, and I was pulled onto that one, my arms still bound. They put the sack over my head once more and with that, before any of the citizens could come out to see what was happening, we left Siena.

It took what felt like a day before we stopped for good. They finally took the sack off my head again and tossed it away – it was late afternoon. We were in a small clearing at the base of a mountain, surrounded by trees on one side and water to the other side. A large ship was there, and the men boarded it with their horses and caskets of food. I was pulled off of the horse and I hit my head on a stone – not hard enough to black out, but hard enough to be slightly disoriented for a moment.

"Get up," one of the men demanded. I tried but fell again. He kicked my side and I yelled in pain. I carefully tried to stand again, but he kicked me once more and I fell. He and the couple of men surrounding him laughed. Angelo appeared and they then straightened up. I finally stood and they pulled me aboard the ship.

"Do you want her in the prisoner room?" asked one of the men. Angelo looked down at me, then back at the man.

"No. Keep her up here, tied to the sail pole. We don't want her escaping. She _is _Leonzo Calvetti's daughter."

And so, they did just that. They tied me down to the post, and in a while, we were sailing. The night slowly grew upon me. My stomach growled with severe hunger, my lips dry with thirst, yet the men did nothing.

I was left wondering.

Do they want to kill me? If so, why am I still alive? Do they want information? I know nothing. What did they want…? Where would they take me?

I soon passed out from dehydration. I would not see daylight for a while.


	2. Chapter 2

"_Buongiorno, signora,"_ Angelo said sarcastically. As water hit my face, I desperately opened my mouth to catch and savor each drop. As my vision slowly returned, I realized it was still dark. Had I been out for minutes? Hours? Days? I didn't know.

"Thirsty?" he said, pulling away the canteen of water he held over my face. The other men were slouching on the ship's rails and cargo. Everyone seemed tired except for that damned Angelo.

I knew I would hate myself for showing weakness, but I knew I'd die soon if I didn't get some water. "Please, give me more water," I begged Angelo. He laughed, and as it gradually got louder and louder, his men turned towards us, watching.

"Did you hear that, everyone? The _puttana _is begging for water!" he roared mockingly. The other men snickered.

"I will give you water," he said, placing the canteen at my lips. It was so cold, the water within it just waiting to meet with my dry tongue – but he pulled it away. "I will give you water," he repeated, "when you give me answers."

I sighed. What answers could I possibly give this _bastardo?_

"Where is she?" he asked. The tone he had now was a little too familiar.

"Who is she?" I replied sarcastically.

"She. Your sister. Valeria, was her name? Vera? Viola?"

I looked down angrily. "I don't know where she is-"

And in that second, Angelo slapped me across the face so hard that I was left disoriented for a few seconds.

"Tell me where she is, or suffer the same fate as your father," he said, placing a knife to my throat. I coughed a dry cough, and droplets of blood splattered over the knife. Angelo looked down at me, horrified, and slowly backed away.

"My sister abandoned me. I know nothing of her whereabouts."

"Men!" yelled Angelo, ignoring what I was saying. "Our prisoner is sick! Throw her overboard! We cannot afford to bring this disease to Venezia!"

I smiled at this. "Afraid of a little disease, Angelo?"

He growled and his face boiled red with anger. He pulled out a small throwing knife from his belt, and drew his arm back, ready to throw it at my face.

All of a sudden, my roped were free, and a man was pushing me overboard.

The water was cold. It was salt water as well – I was in an ocean, of course. But I couldn't resist. I drank in the water, and even though it burned my lungs, I felt my body already starting to feel better. I let myself float.

"You idiot! I was going to kill her myself!" cried Angelo to the man, and with a splash, he was thrown overboard as well. This man seemed to be struggling to swim. As the boat continued to sail forward, leaving us behind, I made my way to the man.

"Get away from me," he said, looking at me with disgust. Still, he struggled.

Without hesitation, my hand went underwater. I snatched the dagger he carried on his belt and raised it up.

"What the hell are you doing?!" he cried, but it was soon too late. I plunged the knife into his back, twisting it so he couldn't scream. This way, the other men on the ship would see nothing. His lifeless body began to float.

I wasn't really sick at all – I knew how fearful many people of today were afraid of disease, so I purposely bit my tongue to the point where the little saliva I had was mixed with blood. I knew he'd leave me alone then, but now what? Victoria, you didn't think this one through, did you?

I grabbed his leather satchel and opened it to find a piece of bread, a canteen of fresh water at its side.

Weakly, I ate and drank, and as soon as I did, I became unbearably tired. I struggled to stay awake as I floated in the water. Soon, again, I blacked out.

_"What was she doing in the middle of the damn ocean?"_

_ "I don't know, she was just floating there. She barely looked alive."_

_ "Then why waste your time getting her out of the water? It looks to me like she probably won't live through this. It's been a day and she is yet to awake."_

_ "Listen, Ezio. You know you have men after you. No one with a good name just abandons a young woman like this in an ocean. She might know something-"_

_ "You're always too optimistic, Leonardo."_

I groaned in pain as I began to feel my body again. Everything hurt – I was so sore, it took me a while to even open my eyes.

"See, she is awake," said a voice above me. Everything was still so blurry – I couldn't see much. But by the feel of it, I was inside, and it was warm. I didn't know what to think.

"W-where am I?" I said slowly and painfully. "Why am I hurting so badly?"

The person who spoke above me shuffled around, as if he was looking for something nearby. "You're safe, _signora. _I gave you some medicine for your wounds, but they are yet to heal," he said immediately. It took me a few seconds to take in everything he said. I could barely think.

"Wounds?" I questioned.

"Yes, you have bruises all over your body and your wrists were bleeding from what seems like being bound together by rope."

I remembered being kicked around by the guards. I must have been so severely deprived from food and water that I couldn't feel the lasting pain just then.

My vision soon fixed itself. Darting my eyes around the room, I could see two men – one was rummaging through shelves on my right. The other, a man in distinct white robes, was silently leaning against a table on my left. I tried to sit up, but my body hurt like hell, so I went back down.

"I need to leave," I said.

"You cannot leave. Your wounds are still too fresh and you must surely have people looking for you."

"No, I need to leave _signore,"_ I repeated, remembering the orange glow from the flames that engulfed the house with Adriana and Elenora and the other girls. "I need to leave now."

"Please, _signora, _you have suffered major injuries. I, in my right mind, cannot let you leave like this. You can leave as soon as your wounds heal – but not like this."

I still wasn't sure if these men were threats, but I could definitely see that the one speaking to me was right. I was too injured to move, let alone go back to Siena for the girls.

"If I may ask, what is your name _signora_?" said a different voice. The man in the white robes was now speaking. He sounded slightly aggravated.

I took a breath then said, "I am Victoria. Who are you?"

"That is not important-"

"I am Leonardo, and this is my friend Ezio," said the man rummaging through drawers, cutting off the man in robes. Leonardo and Ezio. "We are in Firenze."

"How old are you?" asked Leonardo, hovering over me with a small bowl.

"I am about seventeen. Why do you ask?"

"Because I wonder why anyone would be out to hurt a young woman like you," he said. "Ezio, help her sit up."

And so, the man named Ezio walked over to me, and slowly sat me up. It was painful, but I got through it. Leonardo placed a piece of thick cloth on my lap and handed me the warm bowl. It smelled delicious – my mouth watered. I drank the soup, and I could feel the life coming back to me.

_"Grazie," _I said sincerely. These men didn't seem to be threats.

_"Di niente," _he replied.

"Tell us what happened," said Ezio sternly. He seemed to not trust me. I didn't blame him.

"Why is that of importance to you?" I asked. They didn't seem to be threats, but I wasn't going to share my life story with two strangers. Ezio walked up to me, his face full of frustration, but Leonardo gently pushed him away.

"Can you tell us who did this to you?" Leonardo asked politely.

"Angelo Galati and his men," I replied. Ezio went silent. Leonardo looked at him.

"Where were they taking you?" asked Ezio.

"I do not know. They didn't tell me," I told him.

Without another word, Ezio stormed out of the house. Leonardo offered more soup, and I gladly said yes. I drank about three more bowls before I finally, for the first time in what seemed like an eternity, fell into a peaceful sleep.

I awoke feeling much better than I did before. Though my bruises still hurt, they were definitely beginning to heal. My wrists, however, were in a bit more pain. They were wrapped up in cloth that Leonardo had to change regularly because of the blood.

I was still lying on the same table, the blanket beneath me providing comfort. It took me a moment before I realized two things that caught me off guard – one, I was wearing clothes that weren't mine; two, Ezio was once again leaning on the table.

I looked down at my clothes, then questioningly at Ezio.

"Calm down. My sister changed you," he said calmly. A smirk appeared on his face, but I was still confused as to why he was there.

"Leonardo went out to get some goods. He ordered me to stay here and watch you," he said, as if he could read my mind. I nodded.

"Now, Victoria. I have a few questions for you."

"I have no answers."

"So you cannot tell me your full name?"

"No."

"Where you're from?"

"No."

His smirk faded and he walked closer to me. My heart thudded a little faster.

"Listen, Victoria, I need answers."

"I need more answers than you, Ezio. My life is one big mess that I am yet to understand. Asking me questions will only raise my own."

He sighed and took his hood off from his head. His large, dark eyes gleamed in the light of the fireplace, his sleek black hair tied in a short ponytail. He looked at me, a hint of desperation on his face.

"This is more important than you could even think, Victoria," he said.

"Listen to me," I said, sitting up and slowly rising to stand, "I have nothing for you. There is nothing that I know that could benefit you. All I can tell you is that Galati's men are the ones who took me onto a ship and dumped me in the ocean. I have nothing more."

The gleam in his eyes lingered for a second longer as he stared into mine, then it went out as he turned away. He put the hood over his head.

"You seem to be getting better," he said, noticing how I was standing firmly on my own. I took a step towards him.

"Yes, I am. We are in Firenze, you say?" I ask. Ezio nods.

"Then I will need you to show me around," I tell him. He snickers.

"Why would I need to do that?"

"I'm not staying in this home forever. I need to know my way around this city."

"Don't you have a place to go back to?"

I flinched. A place to go back to? How about my family's mausoleum back in Venezia? Though I didn't actually say it to his face, I thought it, and looked down. He seemed to understand. To avoid anything sentimental, he spoke up immediately.

"Fine, I will show you around the city. But are you well enough to go now?" he asked me.

I looked at myself – I wore a maroon and gold colored dress, with brown shoes. My long, brown hair was tied in a braid. I seemed like any other Italian woman – not like some _puttana _as I usually did back in Siena. "Yes, I am well enough now."

And with that, Ezio opened the door, and the sun's warmth felt good on me. He let me go out first.

As he closed the door behind him, a woman yelled in the distance of a man stealing her money – a ragged looking man ran right before us, a small pouch of jingling coins in his hand. He was unmistakably the thief, and Ezio only reached out to grab his collar. The man tried to pull away, but Ezio held onto him effortlessly. He took the pouch from the thief's hand, and whispered something in his ear. The thief's eyes grew wide. When Ezio let him go, he ran for dear life.

The older woman ran up to us. Ezio gave her back the pouch, and she thanked him repeatedly. When she walked away, Ezio looked at me. I could see the smirk beneath the hood.

"Welcome to Firenze, _signora,"_ he told me, "Ezio Auditore at your service."


	3. Chapter 3

We walked around the city, men staring Ezio down as the whispers of women showed that he must be popular with the ladies. He was showing me the monuments, the doctors and blacksmiths – nothing of much importance. What I needed was places to hide, where I could sleep at night when I was on my own without the guards, or anyone else for that matter, catching sight of me. But I wasn't going to blatantly ask him this, because first off, it was broad daylight and there were people all around me; second, it would just raise more questions from him that I either didn't have answers to, or that I just didn't want to answer.

"Your bandages."

"What?" I asked him. He looked down at my wrists, which were protruding from my sleeves. The white bandages had small stains of red bleeding through them.

"They need to be changed," he said. There was a hint of concern in his voice, and the face that he actually noticed and wants to help made me smirk.

Victoria, wait. He's just looking after you under Leonardo's orders. Don't flatter yourself.

"I'll be fine, it doesn't hurt too badly," I said, but after examining them for another second he gestured at me to follow him. We went down the street and took a left to a doctor. He was standing there with his mask stuffed with posies, telling people to bring him their sick and wounded. Ezio approached him, and they exchanged some words so quietly I couldn't hear. The doctor then turned to me, and picked up my arm, looking at it closely.

"Rope, you say?" he asked. Ezio and I nodded. He looked at it once more before turning around, opening his stand and looking for something that was not apparently in his reach.

After a moment, he turned back to Ezio, and gave him a vial of greenish liquid. "Change her bandages, and soak the wounds with this. It may burn, but they'll heal much faster this way," he said. "And Ezio, tell Leonardo to see me for these things. He's intelligent, yes, but it is best to leave the medical side of things to the medics themselves."

With that, we left, and we began walking back toward the house. I looked at Ezio, a bit confused. "This cannot be all of Firenze!"

"It is not," he said. He was giving me the cold shoulder again. As we passed some guards, they eyed Ezio carefully.

"Then why are we leaving? It is still early," I demanded. He didn't turn to face me.

"I shouldn't be letting you out like this. You need to rest to heal," he said.

"I'm fine," I objected. "Why are you caring all of a sudden?"

He was hiding something. There was something he didn't want to tell me. But I wasn't going to call him out on it – he's a stranger, after all.

Back in the house, Leonardo was sitting at his desk, scribbling over papers like a mad man. Ezio walked over to him as I sat on the makeshift bed and rolled my sleeves up. The bandages were bleeding through more. I had been moving my wrists too much.

"I've got it, Ezio, this codex-"

Ezio cut Leonardo short with a hand on his shoulder. I knew it was because he didn't want me to hear anything. He took something out of his pocket and placed it on the desk. Leo didn't seem to notice.

"Let's discuss this out in the courtyard, Leonardo," Ezio suggested to him. They exited out of a side door, and closed it behind them.

It was as if he was reading my mind. And what was on my mind?

I couldn't stay here. I was enough of a threat to myself; I couldn't let these two people suffer like Adriana and the girls. I can't do that to people who took me in, a total stranger, and helped me recover from my wounds. I would leave tonight.

My bruises hurt, but I could still move around freely. The pain was subsiding. So I snatched the vial, grabbed some bandages in the small drawer where Leo kept them, and got to work.

I took the bandages off my wrists to see that even though they were bleeding a good bit, they had sure started healing fast. I took the vial and generously poured the substance over them.

_"Merda!" _I gasped as the substance penetrated the wounds, painfully burning my wrists. I bit my lip to avoid having them hear me. I closed the vial and went to put it in my pocket, only to realize that the dress had none. Lovely.

I hid it beneath the table, and wrapped up my wounds once more.

As night began to fall, and Ezio left, Leonardo spoke to me once more. "I will be upstairs in my room. _Buonanotte, signora."_

_"Buonanotte, signore," _I replied. He went upstairs, and I waited about an hour before I made a move. I wasn't going to risk waking him.

Once I was sure that he was asleep, I took the vial from under the bed. I held it tightly in my hand. I had no money, I knew no one, the clothing I wore was limiting and the Templars are definitely out looking for me. This was perfect, I thought – I'd get killed out here soon enough. But there wasn't much I could do.

I asked the Lord to bless the house and Leonardo and Ezio. With that, I silently crept out of the front door, and began to walk in the dark empty streets of Firenze.

The city was beautiful at night. The stars and the moon gleamed in a way where all the light reflected on the glistening plants and windows. Lanterns gave a dim lighting as well. I walked through the city, much farther than Ezio and I had walked through earlier (which isn't saying much). Everything seemed void of people. The shops and stands were either gone or locked up. Lights inside of houses were out.

"What is a pretty young lady like you doing out on the streets this late?" said someone mockingly from behind me. Out of instinct, I clenched my fists, but kept them low so the person wouldn't see. I turned to face him – a guard in his dirtied uniform, his sword close at his side. I looked at him up and down, and realized he had a sinister smile on his face.

"Don't be shy, _signora, _I am the only one here," he said, stepping closer, threateningly. I took a step back.

"I am not interested in talking with you," I told him firmly. I couldn't tell if he was surprised or amused, but either way, he took another step towards me. My heart thudded a bit faster.

"But I am interested in you, _signora,_" he replied. He reached out and touched my cheek, but I slapped his hand away and turned. I began to walk the other way when his hand yanked my shoulder, turning me around forcefully. "Listen, you come with me and do as I say," he growled.

"And if I don't?"

"Then I could arrest you for dealing with illegal medicine," he said, gesturing at the vial in my hand. I held it tighter and tried to get out of his grip. He held onto me tighter.

"Let me go, _bastardo!" _I exclaimed. Wrong move.

He slapped me and covered my mouth with one hand, using the other to push me against a wall in a dark alley. I struggled as the fear began to rise in me. He was too strong for me to escape. He pulled out a dagger and told me that if I screamed, he'd kill me. I didn't know which was worse at the moment.

He removed his hand from my face and began to forcefully kiss me. His hand then began to feel me up, and at that point the fear within me snapped and I broke down.

"Please don't do this, _signore! _Please, I'll give you anything else!"

_"Stai zitto, puttana!"_ he yelled, slapping me once more. I was shaking with fear.

He continued groping me against my will as he pressed me up against the wall. I begged for him to stop repeatedly but he would just keep going and I wondered for a moment if I should just scream to get him to kill me – that way there would be no more running from Templars, or living on my own, or having _stronzos _like this one trying to hurt me-

Suddenly, he pulled away. His face went suddenly pale, his eyes wide. And with that, he fell to the side, lifeless, dead. A man was standing behind him with a bloody blade coming out from his sleeve. It retracted.

"You're damn lucky I was passing by, Victoria."

I didn't look him in the eye. He got a bit closer. I flinched, and he stepped back.

"What in the devil's name are you doing out here at this time? You're supposed to be back with Leonardo," he said calmly. I could tell he was looking at me, making sure I wasn't bleeding anywhere else. But he saw my face, probably red or purple from the guard's harsh slaps.

"Victoria, your cheek-" said Ezio, instinctively reaching out to me. I gently pushed his hand away. I was too ashamed to even look him in the eye, so I kept my face down.

After a moment of silence, he took a deep breath. "Come with me," he said, turning to walk in another direction.

"I'm not going back to Leonardo's home, Ezio," I said.

"I know you won't go back. I'm bringing you somewhere else."

"Where?"

He said nothing. I had no choice but to follow him farther into the city of Firenze.

"You see this?" he said, his tone turning cold. "The blood of the innocent has been shed here one too many times."

Ropes hung from the top, the lever that would open the bottom towards one side. I looked at it, trying to imagine the people gathering around to see the killings of people. It always sickened me how eager some people were to see such things.

Ezio walked over to it. He put his hands against it, staring up at the ropes. He let out an angry groan and hit the wooden structure. And as much as I hated to admit it, it pained me to see him so distressed. I barely knew this man, but it was almost impossible to dislike him for long.

I slowly walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"The blood of my father and my brothers has been shed here. Petruccio – he was only thirteen," he said. I didn't know how to reply.

"I honestly do not know what I'm doing anymore. My life has become a game of seeking revenge. The _assassino _you hear people warning about..."

I looked at him with concern. "What about him, Ezio?"

"Are you blind? He is me, Victoria. The murderer here is me. I've killed too many to count for the sake of my family," he said firmly. He looked at me with gleaming, pleading eyes, the sadness overflowing with tears that were threatening to fall down his cheek.

He's an assassin, Victoria. He isn't safe to be around. Look at him – he could snap on you at any moment…

But no. Ezio isn't like that, he isn't-

You don't know him, Victoria. You don't know him,

Suddenly, I heard a metallic sound. Looking down in its direction, my heart stopped.

The blade he had killed the guard with – he took it out. Two of them, actually – one for each arm. He looked at me with desperation. I was scared and confused and worried and a million other emotions all at once. But my first thought:

Is this man, the one I've been beginning to trust, the one who might as well just have saved my life, going to kill me? Is he insane?


End file.
